Within the insurance industry, a typical process for generating a claim involves first receiving notice from an insured that a loss has occurred. Next, an insurance representative conducts a personal visit to the premises to assess the damage. Additionally, if there is evidence that the damage was caused intentionally, an insurance fraud investigation may be conducted. Upon completion of the on-site visit, the insurance representative submits to the home office an assessment regarding the monetary amount of the damage and/or potential insurance fraud. Upon receipt of the assessment, the insurance company begins the claim process.
One drawback to the existing process is that insurance personnel may be unable to physically access the insured property. After a major catastrophe, such as a hurricane, flood, wild fire, or tornado, large areas of a community may be cordoned off to all except emergency personnel. Further, even if an insurance representative was able to reach the property, there may be no electrical or phone service to relay the results of the assessment. In some instances, local conditions may create a life-threatening situation for personnel attempting to assess the condition of the property.
From a logistics perspective, further drawbacks exist. After a large-scale disaster, insurance companies may be required to deploy scores of representatives to remote locations with little or no advance planning. Such large-scale deployment places a heavy financial burden on the insurance company and strains personnel resources.
Another drawback to the current process is that the insured may be forced to wait for long periods of time, perhaps months, to receive their claim payment from the insurance company. Such a situation is untenable for many people who have lost their primary residence, and creates great hardship.
In some insurance applications, sensors fixedly attached to an insured property detect abnormal conditions such as the level of gaseous substances, level of water, or the presence of biological agents. Such in-situ sensors may have some usefulness in the early detection of hazardous conditions or minor perturbations in the status quo, but are useless if a catastrophic event such as fire disables or destroys the sensor.
Therefore, there is a need for assessing property conditions that does not require on-site personnel or in-situ sensors.